I’d
heard  a lot about Faber Castell’s Gelatos. I’d heard they were like a
tube of smooshy rich watercolor. So I had to try them out. I went small
and bought a 2 pack. The only packs the local Michael’s had were either 8
packs or 2 packs. The 8 packs are all matching tones in one shade or
another, the 2 packs were the blending shades to mix with the colors. I
didn’t want to spend a lot of money on the 8 packs and the 2 pack was
only $3.50 and I had a coupon.

The
tubes are hard plastic and hold a water soluble substance that feels a
lot like chapstick, which makes sense that it’s in a chapstick-like
tube. No holds barred, I went straight into my art journal and slopped
some white onto a spot that I wanted to bring the neighboring area into
prominence while blending the color back.

Once
on the page I found the white was nicely opaque, thought it took a
decent amount of product to get that result. I really liked the look of
the product straight out of the tube, but found that without adding
water it smudged with ease. Adding some water kept a lot of the
opaqueness of the product but cut it’s greasy slick texture.

For
those of you who like to stick your fingers into paint, these are
nontoxic. I have not had a chance to test them for lightfastness, but
will do so soon.

They
lay down in a greasy thick and smooth feeling, not unlike writing on a
wall with high quality lipstick… I’ll be honest after so many rave
reviews I was expecting… MORE. Instead I was left feeling
underwhelmed. The plastic tube is brilliant marketing for adults who
don’t want to get their fingers dirty with Portfolio Water Soluble Oil
Pastels. They also have a more adult appearance than Portfolios, a
certain je ne sais quoi, if you will. They are also packaged in a way
that will appeal to adults.

Underwhelmed
is a good way to express how I feel about these. I’m not a fan of
Portfolios. They are close enough to watersoluble crayons that I don’t
see a reason to add them to my art arsenal. Instead I’ll stock up on
more watersoluble crayons. I do like the white though for it’s
opaqueness.